1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to basic amino or ammonium antimicrobial agent (especially bisbiguanide, quaternary ammonium salt and bispyridine)-polyethylene glycol ester surfactantbetaine and/or amine oxide surfactants antimicrobial skin cleansing compositions and method of use thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Antimicrobial aryl bisbiguanides (U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,924; U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,636) including chlorhexidine (The Merck Index, Ninth Edition, 1976, monograph 2060) and chlorhexidine digluconate salt (U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,425) are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,140 describes polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene block copolymer cleansing compositions of certain chlorhexidine salts including chlorhexidine digluconate salt. Antimicrobial alkyl bisbiguanides (U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,898) including alexidine (The Merck Index, ibid., monograph 224) and aqueous compositions thereof with "a compatible surfactant or surfactant mixture selected from the cationic, non-ionic and amphoteric surfactants" (Belgian Pat. No. 862,808) and cycloalkyl bisbiguanides (U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,834) are also known.
The quaternary ammonium disinfectants (A. N. Petrocci, Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation, 2nd Edition, Seymour S. Block, Editor, Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, 1977, pp. 325-347) are a well-known class of antimicrobial agents. Particularly well-known examples are benzalkonium chloride (The Merck Index, ibid., monograph 1059), benzethonium chloride (ibid., monograph 1078), cetylpyridinium chloride (ibid., monograph 1987), dequalinium chloride (ibid., monograph 2874) and N-myristyl-N-methylmorpholinium methyl sulfate.
Antimicrobial bispyridines and compositions thereof "with any compatible, pharmaceutically acceptable surfactant, preferably a non-ionic surfactant, such as the polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene copolymers . . . amine oxides, such as stearyl dimethyl amine oxide . . . or with mixtures of these" are described by British Pat. No. 1,533,952.
Numerous other basic amino and ammonium antimicrobial agents are described by the prior art, as illustrated by the following examples. Amidinoureas are described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,483. U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,441 describes bisphenoxybenzyldiamines. U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,477, U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,454 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,860 describe dioldiamines.
The polyethylene glycol or polyoxyethylene esters of fatty acids are a known class of surfactants (W. B. Satkowski, S. K. Huang and R. L. Liss in Nonionic Surfactants, Martin J. Schick, Editor, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1967, pp. 142-174) of the nonionic type, members of which are listed by trade name (McCutcheon's Detergents & Emulsifiers, North American Edition, McCutcheon Division, MC Publishing Co., 175 Rock Road, Glen Rock, NJ 07452, 1977) and generic name (CTFA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary, Second Edition, The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, Inc., 1133 Fifteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, 1977).
The betaine surfactants are also known and are of the amphoteric type (McCutcheon's Detergents & Emulsifiers, ibid.; CTFA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary, ibid.). Members of the class have antimicrobial properties as well as surfactant properties (Seymour S. Block, Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation, ibid., pp. 348-360).
The amine oxide detergents are also known and are of the nonionic type (AROMOX Amine Oxides, Product Data Bulletin No. 74-21 of Armak Company, Box 1805, Chicago, Ill., 60690, 1974; McCutcheon's Detergents and Emulsifiers, ibid., CTFA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary, ibid.).
There is a need for antimicrobial skin cleansing compositions having better sudsing ability than the compositions of the prior art, especially those of above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,140. The presently described and claimed invention is designed to meet this need.